Bookends: A Collection
by ofsaltandsea
Summary: Flash fiction and drabbles. Chapter 3 Wayside: Thalia lost track of time in increments.
1. Oceanography

Blanket Disclaimer: Not mine.

So. This will be a flash fiction collection. Happy reading.

* * *

Oceanography

Percy's eighth grade class is at the school library.

They're supposed to be learning how to use the reference tools or something, but Percy's English teacher is letting them roam the library instead.

"You'll learn best if you figure it out yourself," he said.

A room full of books is kind of useless when a kid is ADHD and dyslexic, so Percy wanders down the rows, not really looking at anything. That old book smell of dust and faded ink clings to the shelves. He can hear the soft shuffle of feet and faint giggling from some of the girls in his class a couple rows over.

His class will be here for at least another twenty minutes.

Percy sighs and drops his backpack on the floor, intending to follow it and just wait out the time until his eye catches something.

The shelves across from him are filled with glossy covers in shades of blues and greens. Schools of fish and coral reefs decorate the covers. He may not be able to read the titles, but it's clear he has stumbled upon the oceanography section.

Hesitantly, he pulls one down and thumbs through the pages.

There are days when Percy still isn't sure about his dad, but the book is pretty interesting. The pictures are cool, even if the words float around the page.

Before he realizes it, the twenty minutes have passed. Percy grabs his backpack and looks at the book in his hands before stuffing it under his arm.

He walks up to the librarian and scoots the book across the counter.

"I'd like to check this out, please."

* * *

I couldn't shake this image out of my head, so I thought I would share.


	2. In Depth

I found this in my docs. Wrote it months ago, and I still like it. Obviously pre- MoA. I wanted to see Percy run into another of his brothers so I loved the Chrysaor scene.

* * *

Leo and Percy are on the deck, checking over a minor problem with the ship when the usual thrum of background noise on the ship abruptly stops. It takes them a minute to realize it's happened, and they're just moving towards the others when a voice rings out across the deck.

"Where is Perseus?"

Percy winces out of habit at the full address before it registers that he knows this voice, in spite of having only heard it once. Tyson confirms it a moment later with a greeting for their brother, who is raised on a wave and gazing critically across the deck. Percy's not sure if Triton is critizing the people or the ship (which there was no reason to – the ship is awesome).

"Ah. I would speak with you."

No greeting, but it's not quite as haughty as last time he spoke to him. Triton looks at Tyson, who had leaned over the port side to ask him about Rainbow, before his gaze shifts to Frank. There is something like a family reunion on board the _Argo II_, and Percy wonders if Triton can tell Arion is below deck. Not that this is something Percy really registers most of the time; the only one he's claimed as a brother is Tyson, but he was still willing to claim Frank as his however many times great nephew.

He and Triton stare at each other a moment.

Apparently Triton doesn't want to say whatever it is in front of everyone on the ship. Percy heaves a sigh and slips over the edge as Jason gives a panicked protest. What is the point of the boat sailing on the ocean if the resident demigod son of Poseidon abandons ship?

Surprisingly, Triton offers something that kind of might be reassurance to the rest of the startled crew. "The ship will continue on its allotted course as directed for the present time. Perseus shall return before long."

They slip beneath the surface, and Percy follows Triton as they sink into the depths of the ocean. He seriously starts to wonder what's so important that the brother who seemed to hate him on sight is going so far out of his way to talk to him. And where no one else can hear. He eyes Triton for a moment and wonders if he'll need Riptide. Every other sibling he's met hasn't exactly ended well.

"You know the gods cannot speak," Triton begins. They're in a rather unremarkable part of the ocean that looks just like the several other miles of ocean they passed.

"Yes."

There's no point in mentioning that some of them have broken the rules.

"Before Father joined the others in isolation, he gave me charge of the kingdom and bid me watch for your return, and give you fair warning."

This conversation has barely started, and Percy can already feel a headache coming on. Would it kill Triton to surface every once in a while to keep up with the times? An image of his father in his Hawaiian shirt and fishing hat flashes across his mind. Maybe it would.

"The earth mother has brought forth many new allies from the Doors of Death. She stirs things best left forgotten in rage and revenge. Not even the ocean depths are completely safe from her influence."

His father's destroyed palace comes to mind. "You don't mean Oceanus?'

"No. He will wait and execute caution before he joins this war. The defeat of Kronos has taught him this much. No, there are other nightmares I watch for. Know that your ship is safe, but be on guard. Gaea is a formidable foe."

There is a long, awkward pause. Percy supposes Triton has said mostly everything he was supposed to now, and he watches as his tails twitch in the current.

"You…have proven yourself a hero, Perseus. I can only hope you fulfill this prophecy swiftly. There is much I fear will happen, should the gods remain sequestered for much longer."

"Thanks, I think."

"You may return to your ship now."

Percy nods, and turns to head back. That was all kind of weird, and he really doesn't have the time to deal with it right now. He pulls at the current and within moments Percy is under the glowing bronze hull of the ship. Just as he is about to surface, a voice echoes through the current: _Good luck._

* * *

Review?


	3. Wayside

"_We just are, we just be, like rocks beside the road." –Tuck Everlasting_

* * *

Thalia lost track of time in increments.

First it was hours. She would be distracted by something – the hunters, the chase – and suddenly she would realize hours had passed without her even noticing.

Next she lost days. They would blur together is a constant shift of light and dark. This loss didn't matter much; the hunters had no appointments to keep, and they went where their Lady bid. What were a few days to these girls, never-changing, but a ripple in a pond? What were a few days, when Thalia had already lost years as a tree?

Thalia did not notice when she lost count of the weeks.

Months passed. Time became a distant thing, dimly noticed in the colors of the leaves and the snow on the ground; even these were viewed like through a fogged glass – what was a change in the weather when one was immortal? What was a calendar, but a track of mortal days and mortal lives?

On the Hunt, there were times when she knew nothing but the ground beneath her feet, the moon gliding over head and the flash of her prey before her. When they had temporarily lost the scent of their quarry, suddenly Thalia would stop and stand blinking at the moon. Was it waning or waxing the last time she had looked? It hardly mattered. The Lady guided them on swift feet, and there was no time for reflection when a hunter must ready her bow.

Thalia does not realize she has become out of step with time until they join the campers in Manhattan. How long has it been since she joined the Hunt? Sometimes it feels like a lifetime, sometimes days.

Thalia doesn't know whether time is like a road or the rain cycle. Ultimately it didn't matter, because it passed without her. She had dropped out of the natural course of life when she joined the Hunt – before that, really, when she became a tree. The Hunt was eternal, an endless chase, but it left little room for change.

And change marked time. Frozen forever at nearly sixteen, Thalia could only mark the absence of time and change in herself. The better question was, did she regret it?

She had gained much when she took her vow. Thalia had purpose, she had sisters, and she had peace. She would live a thousand lifetimes; she would have the closest companions until the world ended, if she wanted. There was certainly worth in a life lived naturally, but Thalia had found her own path.

It was a path lit by moonlight, and she couldn't be happier.

* * *

That said, I can see her leaving the Hunt after a few centuries. After some time I think you'd just feel old and tired.

This ended up being a little bit on the purple side of prose. Oh well.


End file.
